There are critical consequences of allowing LIC a differing set of limits for investment. Most impacted will be the policyholder who subscribes to a particular product and is under the impression that LIC will back it with a certain set of assets in keeping with the regulatory guidelines. These regulatory guidelines decide whether bearing the risk is prudent or not, rather than allowing the risk to be concentrated in one particular sector or segment. This is an assumption the policyholder makes. So, when LIC invests in a certain kind of equity or debt and that decision is based on the fact that it is a government offering rather than because there is a market for that kind of paper, it affects policyholder interest. Media reports have pointed out that on such investments made by LIC, especially recently, the corporation has suffered a loss of almost Rs 5,000 crore. So to that extent the policyholder suffers.